Restless Dreams
by kinneas
Summary: Trapped in a horrific pagoda with no escape, the Invincible Retrieval Duo are forced to fight for their lives - or moreso than usual - when an average retrieval job quickly turns into one of terror, death, and decay. Strong R.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I own GetBackers. It's sitting on my manga shelf upstairs, would you care to read it?_****

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**Restless Dreams**

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The good thing, Ban thought, about being a retrieval agent is the variation. Each of the jobs are unique, no two ever the same, and one never got bored while doing them. In fact, Ban had had more excitement in his life than most people had even dreamed of. It was a damn good thing too, because for all the money it didn't pay he was damn tempted to quit right now.

Waist-deep in muck with an unconscious blond partner slung over his shoulder, oh yes, most _definitely_ tempted to leave the business. Had he mentioned that it was raining? That he'd needed a haircut for a month and was shirtless and cold? That his beloved sunglasses were smashed somewhere over the wall he was hiding behind? He should have.

Ban squirmed a bit, trying to wriggle his way out of the mud pit. When Ginji had been smashed into unconsciousness, Ban had quickly snatched up his partner and heaved the both of them over the boundary wall. He'd landed twenty feet down in a small mud puddle that soon became a large mud puddle under their combined weight. Ban was stuck, and searchlights were scouring the ground around him****His wet hair was plastered against his forehead, while dirt and water squelched grossly in his pants and shoes. It was cold and sticky. Tonight was _not_ going well.

Running out of options and time, Ban reluctantly set Ginji carefully in the mud next to him and tried to hoist himself up. His hands sank quickly into the sludge. "Fuck," he sworeHe tried kicking his legs, quickly realizing it was futile. Three feet of compact pressure were not going to give.

Ginji slept on.

Ban was beginning to panic. The searchlights were getting gradually closer. He hadn't used his Evil Eye just yet, but it wouldn't be of any help if he couldn't pull himself out of the damn mud in the one minute it would buy. And then there was the idiot, who was still bleeding freely from his head. The Invincible Ban-sama was not scared of course, he was just incredibly uncomfortable with the current situation.

In the wet, quiet, dreary darkness around him, a bolt of lighting suddenly tore through the sky. Ban's eyes flickered with renewed hope then darted towards his unmoving partner. With some effort he wrapped his arms around Ginji's torso and propped him up halfway in the mud. He sunk a little but otherwise stayed sitting. Ban grimaced and muttered, "Two birds with one stone," and stretched his arms to prop Ginji's left arm into the air, locking his partner's elbow loosely. Ban braced himself.

The bolt came hard and fast, and Ban snapped back into the mud. He screamed as the electricity shot through him, amplified by the rain covering him. Though the pain, he vaguely thought he heard his spine pop from the impact of being bent backward into mud. Volts and pain seared through his body as he lay in the aftershock, hyperventilating uncontrollably.

"Ban-chan?" came a small voice. Ban had only enough lucidity to blink in acknowledgement. He couldn't breathe and felt completely ripped apart. He sensed strong but shaky arms find their way around him. He was dimly aware that they tingled with static, but couldn't bring himself to care. Pain was all there was right now. Well, except Ginji. And the mud. And the pain. Myriad of colours, he thought. And Ginji. Ginji! Ban's eyes shot open and he looked at his partner. He was saying something, but Ban's ears rang too loudly for him to hear it. He felt something run through his hair, probably fingers, and squinted his eyes shut, trying to gain some clarity.

"...sorbed most of the shock," said the blonde blob in front of him.  
"Nnnngh?" said Ban confusedly. He blinked and tried to focus.

"I asked if you were okay, Ban-chan? I absorbed most of the shock but you still got toasted," said Ginji.

Ban winced and replied, "No shit."

Ginji ignored him. "You all right? You aren't burned or anything, but-"

"Ginji?" the brunette interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Pull me out of the damn mud." Ginji smiled weakly, he had yet to recover fully from the blow, but he would do what he could. He grabbed at Ban's waist and began to heave him out of the squelching muck with care, making sure to back out himself before pulling. Ginji had hauled him out to his knees when he noticed the probing searchlights closing in. A rush of adrenaline rising in his throat, he quickly dragged the brunette out from the mud and towed him a foot away, desperately trying to escape the lights from above.

Ban felt a flash of light wash over his face just before he fell into darkness.

"Shit."

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-tbc

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Author's notes: Just in time for Halloween, though I doubt I'll get this done before then. Expect much longer-length chapters than this; I have a nasty tendency to make my prologues super-short. 500 points if you get the reference and thus where I am going with this story.

Beta points to Marumae!

a/n '04: Edited for your bettered reading pleasure.


	2. Chapter One

**Restless Dreams: Chapter One**

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"Got a job for you, boys!" a loud, brazen voice yelled.

"Hevn-san," Ban and Ginji groaned.

"It's nothing_ too_ dangerous, is it?" Ginji whined.

"No kidding," Ban said. "We're still recovering from your _last_ mission. You trying to get us killed or what?"

Hevn leaned against the doorframe, and a chilly October wind blew the door closed behind her. Outside the Honky Tonk, leaves stirred about the busy Shinjuku streets as jacket-clad people watched their breath float away in the glaring afternoon sun. Hevn herself was wearing a loose-necked white angora sweater, though her short black miniskirt made up for the unusual modesty. Her long pale hair was pulled into a bun, and she sported a pair of thin black sunglasses on her forehead.

She smirked. "Perhaps. I'd make better commissions then, wouldn't I?" she said.

Paul, reading a newspaper behind the bar, snorted. "Wouldn't make any difference," he said, "It's not like they make any money anyway." He gestured at another free coffee and pizza that the couple was eating. Ban glared at the both of them, looking ready to injure.

"Who's the employer?" Ginji asked, putting a hand on Ban's shoulder.

Hevn uncrossed her arms and pulled out a small planner from her purse, rummaging through it for a moment before finding a gray business card. She handed it to Ginji who looked at it for a second, head cocked in confusion.

"Gimme that!" Ban said and snatched it out of Ginji's hand. Eyes scanning over the small print, he raised his eyebrows and whistled in appreciation.

The classy business card was a glossy light gray. On the left-hand side was a hand-drawn wineglass with a bottle of red Merlot leaning against it. Next to the picture were wispy black Roman letters that read, "Enoteca Pinchiorri".

Ban felt Ginji's fidgeting presence leaning over his shoulder. "Ban-chan, what's---" he squinted, struggling to read the English, "Eno..." he trailed off.

"Enoteca Pinchiorri. It's a place where we'll never freaking be, that's what," finished Ban.

Hevn smirked. "Gin-chan, ever seen the Ginza Core building a few blocks down? It's on the seventh floor, and it's---"

"---One of the most prestigious, _expensive_ restaurants in all of Japan," Paul cut in. "Serves Italian food mostly. It's famous for its Italian wine and crystal wineglasses."

"Which is exactly the reason I'm here," finished Hevn.

Ban and Ginji stared at her.

"No way in _hell_ did you get us a job with Enoteca," Ban said, eyes intense. "No way."

"Well, if you don't want the job, I _do_ have other clients, you know," Hevn said airily, and turned to head out the door. Ginji quickly recovered.

"Hevn-san, wait!" he cried. She stopped, looking back at them.

Ban glared at her. "How much does it pay?" he inquired skeptically.

"200,000, plus business referrals."

Ban arched an eyebrow in disgust. "In yen?"

Hevn smirked. "In Euro."

It took Natsumi half an hour to wipe the drool from the floor when she came in for her shift later that day.

This guy, Ban decided, was extremely creepy.

Well, not so much creepy as incredibly unsettling. As he, Ginji, and Hevn stood on the ascending elevator, the man's eyes dissected them, as if sizing them up.

The elevator crawled upward, only reaching the fifth floor after a couple minutes. It seemed like an eternity.

The man was foreign, his Caucasian silver hair balding. He stood tall and well built, and was dressed in a Japanese business suit. His hard-set face was stern and scrutinizing, and Ban could feel his gaze boring into him.

The brunette hardly spared him a glance, while Hevn shrugged it off nonchalantly as if this sort of thing happened to her all the time (which, Ban supposed, it probably did).

Ginji, however, appeared deeply disturbed by the close scrutiny and kept fidgeting, troubled brown eyes frequently darting toward the man. "Ban-chan," he whispered nervously, sliding closer to Ban in the cramped elevator, "Why does that guy keep starin' at us?"

"Because he's a damn creep," Ban replied curtly. "Ignore him."

The elevator came to a halt, and all its occupants stepped out into a wide hallway decorated with warm golden colours. Walls lined with sweeping arched molding framed a black-veined marble floor, and at the end of the hallway was a closed arched cherrywood door. Above it, emblazoned in sparkling green marble were the words "Enoteca Pinchiorri", and just above the sign were small katakana. Ban snorted as he heard the happy sounds of Louis Prima drifting through the air.

'I'm so sad and lonely...'

Ban set his mind loose in the distinct Italian feel of the foyer. He could even smell the asiago from here.

'So lonely, so lonely.'

Ginji snapped Ban back to reality with a tug on his sleeve. "Ban-chan," he said restlessly. "The dude's still here."

Ban glanced casually over his shoulder and swore inwardly. He didn't mind the creep so much, but the guy was unnerving his partner and it was starting to piss him off. He glared back at the man and growled lowly.

Hevn stopped walking toward the doors and turned, glancing between the two of them. She sighed. "Really, boys, is that any way to behave in front of your employer?"

Ginji blinked. Ban stared. The man grinned toothily, and Ban noted vaguely that his teeth sparkled gray.

"My name is Giorgio Pinchiorri," he said, his voice warm, full, and rich with a foreign accent, "and welcome to my restaurant!" He walked toward the door jovially, pulling a key from his pocket, and fiddled with the door lock. Ban looked over at Ginji, who looked just as bewildered as the brunette felt. Pinchiorri apparently noticed and glanced over his shoulder at the pair, looking amused. "I apologize for my behavior on the elevator. I like to study people before I speak to them," he said, still grinning.

Ban arched an eyebrow at this Pinchiorri's eccentricity as the man unlocked the door. He heard Ginji whisper to him, "Ban-chan, he's kinda weird..."

"He's the top wine connoisseur in the world, which means he pays well. So can it, idiot," Ban hissed.

Ginji grinned at his partner's predictable reaction, and his own jitteriness seemed to have completely evaporated.

When Pinchiorri finally unlocked the door, a flood of light filled the hall, brightening it and allowing a clear view of the rooms beyond. Pinchiorri stepped beside the door and held it open, arm gesturing inside like a high-class butler. Hevn immediately strolled forward into the reception area while Ginji glanced at Ban, awaiting confirmation. Ban snorted dryly again and followed Pinchiorri, his eyes never leaving the man. The guy's eccentric behavior was freaking weird, and Ban was growing suspicious.

They marched silently through the beautiful antique redwood reception room and into the main dining area, furnished with Italy-imported masterpieces, and Pinchiorri smiled and hummed casually.

Ban thought Hevn seemed to fall right into place here, like a queen in the extravagance. In all honesty, Ban felt humbled, knowing he'd probably never see the interior of a place like this again. He suddenly became very aware of his and Ginji's shoddy clothing. Not that he cared or anything.

Ginji stared in wonder at all the luxuries he'd never seen before, and Ban felt a pang of guilt for having never been able to show Ginji true opulence. Quickly stamping out the thought, and stepped into the private room that the _still_-grinning Pinchiorri lead them to. Ban definitely didn't trust this man.

He sat down behind his cherrywood desk, motioning for the retrievers to sit down in the matching chairs opposite him, and Ban noticed that every piece of furniture in the room was made of the wood. Pinchiorri continued to smile. Ban was given the fleeting impression of a blackjack dealer.

"So," he said.

"So," Ban replied.

"...So?" Ginji asked.

Hevn smacked the both of them and sighed. "Let's just get down to business."

Pinchiorri folded his hands on his desk and kept grinning. "Of course, Miss Intermediary." Hevn smiled and Pinchiorri looked at the retrieval agents. "Miss Hevn tells me that you two are the best in the business."

"Yeah, we are."

"Glad to hear it. And surely you know that my restaurant, ranked in the top ten percentage internationally, is the best in the business as well?"

"Yeah, we do."

Pinchiorri's eternal smile disappeared. "Then you know," he said, voice suddenly cold, "that it would be best for the both of us if this whole business stayed confidential." He was looking only at Ban, who stood firm under his chilly gaze.

"Yeah, we know," he said resolutely, completely unfazed by the change.

As quickly as it came, Pinchiorri's threatening manner left and he grinned again. "Good. Now that that's out of the way, let's discuss terms." He nodded to Hevn, who crossed her arms and stepped forward.

"Now you both know," she began, "that Enoteca Pinchiorri is among the top-rated restaurants in the world and _the_ major wine seller in existence."

"In fact, the wine is rated so very highly that it is sold only in the finest crystal glasses, and in fact sold only in this restaurant," Pinchiorri interrupted, a smug grin on his face.

Hevn nodded and continued. "Unfortunately, the wine cellar in Enoteca was recently broken into and 150,000 of the 250,000 some-odd wine bottles were stolen. With that and every crystal wineglass in the Tokyo collection, their market value is easily two hundred."

"Thousand?" Ginji asked.

"Million," Hevn replied.

Ban and Ginji both choked.

Pinchiorri grinned wider and Hevn sighed exasperatedly. "Now," she said, "because of the nature of this grand theft, it is obviously not an amateur we're dealing with. No official solid evidence has been yet found, though private detectives have been able to trace it to a Takamura Sanada," she shoved a picture towards them and continued, "who recently bought a huge pagoda with sudden wealth. He's an ex-con recently released on parole."

Ban snorted at that. "And you're sure he's our man?"

"Positive," Pinchiorri concluded.

"Now of course, we're not asking you to bring back the entire order. Since retrieval agents are licensed professionals and recognized by Interpol, all you have to do is bring back evidence and maybe a case of glasses so as to merit a police search warrant."

Ginji looked up. "Where _are_ the wineglasses, and how tight's security at this place?" he asked.

Ban struggled with the urge to smack him before Hevn spoke again, "We're not sure, though it's nothing you two can't handle, I'm sure." She grinned.

"As for the location," Pinchiorri said, "we estimate that it's somewhere in the deeper interior of the structure."

"So we'll make sure we check the exterior first then," Ban said, smirking.

"Miss Hevn informed you of my offer, yes? 200,000 in euro?"

Ginji grinned as Ban perked up immediately. "Yeah," he said, "and we'll do it for 250,000."

"Done," said Pinchiorri quickly. Ban was so stunned he didn't even think to wish he'd asked for more.

"Mr. Pinchiorri," Ban said, standing up, "you've got yourself a deal." Ginji stood as well, taking his place beside Ban. "Just leave it to the GetBackers!"

Pinchiorri smiled. "Please, call me Giorgio. And it's in your capable hands now."

Hevn couldn't help but snort.

Three hours later, Ginji and Ban were driving in the Subaru through Honshu towards Kyoto, where Takamura had allegedly set up his fortune. The meeting with Pinchiorri left them both confused, but they'd decided to move out immediately.

The sky was a myriad of warm colors as the sun set on the horizon, and Ban half-smiled at Ginji nodding off on his shoulder. For two hours they'd driven in almost complete silence but the serenity of it seemed almost a foreshadowing of good fortune. His thoughts wandered mainly to how much money they were going to make off this job, oh _man_!

"Yo, Ban-chan?" Ginji asked quietly, interrupting the silence. He sounded sleepy. "You think this job will work out? And we'll be rich when it's over?"

"Dumbass," Ban answered, though he slipped an arm around Ginji's shoulder. "Of course we will be. We're invincible, remember?"

"Good," said Ginji, tired from the long drive, and nestled into the crook of Ban's arm. He smiled, but it was a worried, apprehensive smile. "It's just that..." he hesitated, "I just have kinda have a bad feeling about this is all. It seems too good to be true." He smirked, "But hey, it's not like you've ever strayed us wrong before."

"Damn right," Ban said smugly, ignoring the sarcasm, and tightened his arm around the blond. Things were finally looking up for the two. This was an easy job, like something right out of a videogame, and the reward for success was sky-high. Nothing would stand in their way.

Except, perhaps, that big-ass wall that now loomed ahead of the car. Ban snapped to attention. He had gotten lost in the moment and let his mind wander while he drove, but now he was back on track as the gigantic stone fortification quickly drew nearer. _Fuck, this must be it,_ he thought. _ That is one damn big wall._

Ginji sat up out of his daze and watched animatedly as Ban stopped the car on the side of the deserted road. He turned off the ignition and both stepped out of the side of the car. Ginji stretched for a second before turning to the barricade. His eyes narrowed at the stone giant that towered in front of them, wind blowing through his loose blond hair as the sun set in the distance.

A few brown leaves fluttered about before crackling on the pavement under Ban's shoes. He held a map in his hands, glancing over it for a second before shoving it back in the glovebox and shutting the door. "This is it, Ginji. Beyond this bastard thing is twenty-five million yen." Ginji nodded, the lines around his mouth tightening, and he looked toward the top of the many traditional turrets. The lighting was electrical.

Ban looked at his partner, their faces flushed violet in the final setting of the sun. He grinned at Ginji. Ginji sighed and grinned back. "You know what to do," Ban said. The blond understood, nodded, and stepped forward.

The sun disappeared.

Ban's watch beeped 18:00 hours.

Searchlights suddenly flickered on and roved over the perimeter.

"Son of a bitch!"

The night began.

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-tbc

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Author's notes: Yes, the Enoteca and Mr. Pinchiorri really exist. The only thing I made up was his weirdness. At the moment this seems a rather normal GetBackers retrieval fic... but give it one more chapter and I assure you, your opinion might change. R&R, it makes me happy XD

Beta work is all done by Marumae, the gods bless her soul because without her this fic would be shit.

a/n '04: Edited a bit for your bettered reading pleasure.


	3. Chapter Two

**Restless Dreams: Chapter Two**

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"Ban-chan? Ban-Chan! Come on, wake up!"

Ban groaned and opened his eyes slowly. A blond blob floated into his vision. He vaguely smelled leather. His head throbbed dully, nothing too serious, and he winced. "What the fuck...?" he asked dazedly.

"You got hit by lightning," said Ginji. Oh, that. Ban had been trying to forget about _that_. "We almost got caught by a searchlight, but I knocked out the light before they could see us," he continued. "I dragged you back to the car. You were covered in mud, so I changed ya; hope you don't mind."

Ban blinked and sat up, then blinked again. His vision focused, sharpening everything around him, and he wiped at his bleary eyes. He pressed a hand to his face and exhaled. "How's your head?" he asked.

"Good as always," Ginji smiled.

"Shame. You coulda used some brains."

After a few seconds, Ban looked down at himself. He was dressed in his undershirt and a spare pair of Ginji's cargo shorts, of all things. His hair had been respiked with electricity.

He wished he had more pants.

Outside it was still raining, though otherwise it seemed to be quiet. They sat silently together in the dark as the rain pattered steadily on the car, threatening to lull Ban back to sleep. This entire job had been weird from the start. He was stupid to think that it would have been _easy_ for the money Pinchiorri had proposed, because it certainly hadn't been.

As soon as they had gotten out of the car earlier, searchlights and security had sparked to life. They covertly made their way inside the grounds, taking down guards when necessary, while Ginji fried the fuse boxes. The place seemed to run on different generators for each area, so they had to blow them one by one. That had to be a bitch to maintain, Ban thought, so there must be another reason for the heinous layout. It was like someone had been expecting them.

They finally reached the inside of the grounds. Ginji whispered a coast-is-clear and from the shadows Ban hurried towards him. Then he froze. A shadow had crept over the blond. Ban watched him turn around slowly and look straight into the chest of Hishiki Ryuudo, the Undead.

Suddenly something landed beside him, and he barely had time to register Hishiki picking Ginji up before something hard struck his throat. Ban stumbled back but caught his balance. He coughed and glared at his opponent, a tall, gi-clad man wearing all black. Ban couldn't make out his features in the dark.

"Snake bite!" Ban snarled and lunged forward. The man sidestepped left and grabbed Ban's arm, spinning Ban around as he moved. Pain shot through his arm as the man twisted his wrist to the ground, taking Ban with him. He landed hard on his back, and then felt himself flipped onto his stomach as the man held his wrist above him. He swung his legs hard and knocked the man off balance, then wrenched his arm free and rolled into a crouch.

The man smirked. "You would be wise to leave now," he said calmly, his voice deep, and gestured toward where Ginji and Hishiki were. Ban chanced a glance and saw Ginji land a flying kick at Hishiki's head, then tumble to the ground when Hishiki didn't move with the force.

"Fuck," he murmured, remembering his opponent, and stood, ready to face him. Suddenly he heard a crack and whirled around. He watched his partner slide down the barracks wall, unconscious. Blood trailed down the wall after him.

Ban turned back slowly towards his enemy. They stared at each other, Ban's fury apparent, his adversary cool and collected. They watched each other, twitching at the slightest movement the other made. Tense; ready to spring at any moment. Seconds stretched on for hours.

And suddenly Ban wasn't there. The man looked around confusedly, wondering where he'd gone. He seemed to have disappeared.

"Just one minute," Ban whispered from over the wall, waist-deep in mud, partner slung over his shoulder.

* * *

Ban shook his head out of his thoughts and sighed wearily. Ginji shook him lightly and said, "Ban-chan, we should rest."

"No," Ban said firmly, and he moved for the car door. "We're professionals, and we're getting that evidence tonight." He opened the door to the rain, still falling in torrents, and stepped out. Ginji followed suit and both of them marched back toward the perimeter walls.

They stopped. Squinting though the rain and already soaked to the skin, Ban frowned. "Ginji!" he yelled through the downpour. "Ginji, you knock out these search lights?"

"What?" Ginji called back, straining to hear him.

"I said, 'Did you take out the search lights here?' "

"No, the rain isn't letting up any..."

Ban snatched his collar and jerked him closer. "Did you blow all these searchlights?!" he yelled slowly and loudly.

"Oh! No, I don't think so. I think we only hit the ones on the other side."

"...Then where are they?" Ban asked agitatedly.

Ginji blinked. "I..." he hesitated. Ban was right. It was pitch-black, and only the distant streetlights of the highway lit the night. "I guess I coulda hit them. The wiring is all weird, so..." he trailed off.

"All the better for us," Ban said, and strode forward again. He knew very well that it could be a trap, but right now he was pissed and wet; nothing would daunt him. Ginji shook his head, flinging water from his sopping blond hair, and followed.

They turned south and made their way back down the first path to the gatehouse. They crawled through the wet foliage and opened the door to the barracks. Ban was admittedly unsettled by the searchlights' absence, but he wasn't about to complain as they stepped inside the musty outpost. It was dark and dank and made Ban feel wetter than he already was.

The soaked brunette walked in front, creeping flat along the solid stone walls of the fortament. He slowed his pace, stepping carefully around a ladder leading to the outlook balcony. The two were taking extra care to be silent, not wanting to be caught again.

They stopped suddenly when they heard a thump above them. Ban held his breath, apprehensive. He turned slowly and nodded at Ginji, who nodded back and climbed the ladder while Ban stayed on lookout. His head disappeared up the ceiling hole, and Ban tried to calm the adrenaline rushing to his head.

Ginji reappeared after a minute, looking confused. "There's no one here," he said aloud, "and I don't sense any electricity wiring. It's been cut."

Ban furrowed his brows and said nothing. This was very odd.

"Let's keep going. It's probably shift change or something, which means we can make it into the place itself before they come back. Easy street," he said, ignoring the tingling feeling in his gut.

They slowly opened the grounds entrance door, looking for any sign of movement outside. Ginji nodded an affirmative and the agents moved out into the main grounds. Ban immediately put himself on guard, looking for either Hishiki or the martial artist. They moved stealthily around the inner courtyard, dodging behind trees and constantly on their toes. The main keep loomed ahead of them, though they could barely make it out in the dark.

_Pretty small for such an old pagoda. Lucky this ain't no Himeji castle,_ Ban thought, _or we'd be fucked._

"Ban-chan," Ginji said, his voice loud and serious.

Ban turned sharply toward him. "Ginji, you idiot, shut up!" he hissed.

"There's no one here. I can't sense any human current near us." Ginji stared around bewilderedly and made his way toward Ban. He stood beside him, looking confused. "Ban-chan, there's something wrong here," he said, sounding almost scared. But he couldn't have been scared; he was a GetBacker. Ban felt the need to remind him of this now.

"Let's go."

And they went.

The main keep was now ten feet away, and they could make out the huge entrance. A great door with an elaborate gable loomed above them. Ginji hesitated at the door, a look of apprehension on his face. Ban rolled his eyes and swaggered to the door heedlessly. He pushed open the door and coughed as dust kicked up. Wait, dust? Ban had figured that this place was used enough that dust wouldn't have time to gather. Oh well.

He shrugged it off and stepped through the pagoda entrance. It was old looking but well maintained from what he could see in the darkness. He sensed Ginji's presence behind him and started forward again, looking down the long wooden hallway.

After both were inside, Ban shook his head vigorously, spraying water everywhere. "God, I'm drenched." Ginji nodded distractedly, shaking out his own limbs best he could. Ban wrung out the wettest of the borrowed shorts and looked up.

"Where should we start?" Ginji asked.

"Damned if I know," Ban said tersely and headed left, down the more lighted path. Moonlight shone through the thick paper walls, so he guessed that the Takamura guy would use a lighted path as well.

Something slammed behind him. Everything went dark with the loss of the outside light. Ban froze and then whirled around, ready to fight. From what he could see, his partner was facing the door. But that was all he could see.

"Why'd you shut the door, idiot? I can't see for shit in here!"

Ginji's silhouette turned slowly. "I didn't close it, Ban-chan," he said, his voice uneasy.

Ban's eyes narrowed, and he said flatly, "It was the wind, ignore it. Put up a light, will you? Just don't set anything on fire." Ginji nodded and suddenly his skin was aglow, casting a pale white luminosity on both Ban and himself. With the light's return he looked less antsy, but Ban felt him walk considerably closer as they headed down the hallway.

Ban stopped and slid open a paper-windowed door. The room was fairly bare. Nailed to the back, fully wooden wall was a plain shelf covered with dusty books. In the corner stood a brass coat hanger. Imprints on the floor suggested long-gone furniture. Ban sighed agitatedly. "Nothing here," he said, and they slid the door shut and moved on.

They passed through hallways in uncomfortable silence, sliding doors, checking for secret compartments, anything to help them on their blind trek for evidence. They moved down every set of stairs they found; Ban was sure they were now underground. There still seemed to be no sign of people anywhere. It was like they were completely alone in this giant castle. Room after identical room they passed in the darkness, Ginji paranoid and Ban in complete denial of any strangeness.

"Ban-chan, where the hell are we?" Ginji asked quietly as they slid open another door that no doubt led to ten other rooms.

"...We're not lost, if that's what you're asking."

Ginji smiled. It was the first time he'd done so in an hour. Ban didn't understand why he was so afraid of a dusty old pagoda. "'Course we aren't, Ban-chan," Ginji said. Ban slid the door shut behind them, cracking it slightly to remember his place. He wished Himiko were here; her tracking scent would have done them well.

Suddenly they heard a thump. Ginji inhaled sharply and Ban whirled around, looking for the source of the noise.

"Where did it come from?" Ginji whispered.

Ban shook his head, eyes darting around.

The floorboards creaked. Ban's heart pounded and adrenaline rushed to his head. Something was wrong. They creaked again. And again. And again.

_Footfalls,_ Ban realized. Too heavy to be normal. In succession, one right after the other, they fell. Then they sped up. Something was running closer and closer. Ginji's breath was fast and shallow. They both approached the door, Ginji's electricity crackling with his fright.

"Get ready!" Ban hissed, and he wrenched open the door. He stared into darkness. There was nothing there. The hallway was clear and so very dark that it seemed to stretch on forever. It was as if he could fall into the black abyss and never return.

"BAN-CHAN!"

Something heavy crashed into him and he was sent sprawling across the floor. Jolting back to the present, Ban saw his partner fall on top of him. He looked up toward the doorway where he was hit—and froze.

It was a giant. It was humanoid, but gigantic. It had dark brown skin— was it skin? – and no face on its gigantic round head. Instead, sharp gray spikes protruded from its head, identical to the ones on its long, burly arms. All over its body, strips of decaying flesh hung from blackened bone. It smelled of rotting fruit.

Ban's eyes widened in horror and denial. "Holy fuck," he whispered softly. Ginji scrambled to his feet, holding his side. He'd jumped in front of Ban as the... thing had attacked. "This isn't real," Ban said, still whispering. "This isn't real; this can't be real— it's not possible."

The thing raised an arm gracefully and let out a roar. Ban snapped back to reality and jumped out of the way as the thing slammed its arm into the ground where he'd been, splintering the wood. Enemy. Good. He clasped his hands into a ball and swung hard at the thing's neck, dodging spikes. It bent backwards with the blow, maintaining perfect balance. Ban jumped away and stared in disbelief.

"Ginji..."

Ginji's lip was trembling with terror, but he nodded once and ran forward. He grabbed his metal-link belt and pulled it off, then whipped it at the monster. It extended and fastened around the thing's arm. Ginji hollered, emitting deadly volts through the belt and searing them into the monster's body.

It released a piercing shriek and Ban immediately slammed his hands over his ears. He kept his wide eyes riveted on the monster, which had stopped its scream and started advancing toward them again. Ban froze and fumbled for the ground behind him, trying to dart out of its line of fire in the tight hallway.

The ugly bastard seemed to have stop reacting to Ginji completely and begun focusing solely on the prey on the floor. It raised its captured arm to strike and jerked Ginji, sending him careening into the air. The shadows danced across their figures as Ginji's light sailed across the hallway.

In the blink of an eye, he smashed into the floor behind the monster. Ban heard the floorboards give out, and Ginji yelled as he fell through the ceiling of the floor below. He grabbed onto the belt for dear life.

The monster's arm wrenched backward with the force, and Ban scrambled blindly to his feet in the semi-darkness. "Snake bite!" he screamed, and plunged his hand into its rotting flesh. The thing shrieked and lost its balance as something cold and sticky flowed from the wound. Ban snarled and struck it again, tearing through the tissue. Flecks of blood, his own or the monster's, splattered onto his clothes and face. He struck over and over, adrenaline pumping and panic driving him on.

The monster kept partly losing its stability with Ginji tugging at its arm restraint. The only light left was Ginji, glowing just inside the hole in the floor.

Suddenly the thing lost its balance. It was dragged across the polished floor, screeching, toward the hole... Ginji screamed. There was a huge crack and suddenly everything went dark.

Ban stood, panting hard, arms covered in blood. He was alone. Everything was black.

He was afraid.

* * *

-tbc

* * *

Author's notes: And now it gets creepier. I really don't think Ban could handle the loss of that kind of logic since his mind is so analytical, so I think it was in-character enough with the given situation. Hope y'all like it and drop me a line because reviews make me warm and tingly inside.

a/n '04: Edited a bit for your reading pleasure.


	4. Chapter Three

**

**

**Restless Dreams: Chapter Three**

**

* * *

**

Ginji shook his head and groaned.

I learned something new today, he thought. _Falling through three floors of old wood hurts _really_ damn bad._ _Ban-chan would think I'm a wuss_.

His brow knotted with worry at the thought of his partner. He wondered where he was now, if he was in danger in the dark, alone. He cold take care of himself, sure, but... there was something just not right about this place. Ginji couldn't help but worry.

He stood, pushing thoughts of his partner away. Suddenly pain shot through his ankle and he bit back a cry. _I musta twisted it when I fell_, he thought. _Shit_.

It was disturbingly quiet. Aside from the faint glow of his own body illuminating the broken bits of ceiling, there was an unsettling blackness around him. Usually Ginji could sense electrical currents through the walls, but the pagoda itself was so old he sensed nothing. He felt blind.

A hideous moan from above snapped him back to reality. _The monster_, his brain registered. It must have been too big to fall through the Ginji-sized hole in the ceiling. The fall had probably knocked it unconscious, since it hadn't run away yet.

The ceiling shuddered violently as it howled again.

But no, he thought. It couldn't be out cold if it could make such awful sounds. Ginji's stomach knotted. From up in the framework he heard the horrible crack of wood splintering and the scrape of metal grating against metal. Above him, something snapped. The belt he'd snagged it with must have gotten caught. Its struggling grew louder and more violent, reverberating off the walls, and Ginji slammed his hands over his ears as something above him jerked free and fell closer.

It smelled him.

Ginji's eyes widened as the thing thrashed wildly above him and he looked around frantically in the infinite dark for help he knew wasn't there. It was going to fall and come after him, he realized. His heart pounded and his ears rang as the monster screamed above him.

He darted.

He ran blindly, wanting nothing but to get away. He had to go find Ban-chan; he was lost without him in the dark, and his chest was about to burst as he limped wildly away, wishing his partner was there with him.

He smashed into a wall and stood there for a moment, panicking. His thoughts were clouded with fear as he grabbed blindly as the wall, feeling hysterically for a room or hallway or _something_ to hide in. The pain in his ankle seared, but he ignored it. Pure terror drove him on. His breath was ragged and harsh; blind fear fueled his steps.

The hardwood gave way to thin rice paper beneath his sweaty fingers.

Ginji jerked the sliding door open, dashed inside, and slammed the door shut. Outside, something slammed into the floor, shaking the wood under Ginji's feet.

* * *

It was deadly silent.

Ban sat in the silence, eyes closed and legs crossed. He would remain calm. There was nothing to fear in this old pagoda. He was _going_ to find his partner, _get_ the damn wineglasses, _leave_, and become a very rich man.

He had panicked at first, left alone in the dark, not knowing where or how his best friend was. All he could then hear were the fallen monster's screams and crashes. All around him was black.

His watch beeped 22:00.

Ban patted himself down out of habit for his cigarette pack, annoyed that he couldn't find them. He badly needed a cig.

Cig. Cigarette. Lighter. _Duh._

He could have kicked himself in the face. Not wearing his usual shirt with cigs in the chest pocket had made him forget that he had a lighter on him, so quickly withdrawing the lighter, he flicked it open and on. Orange light sparked to life, and shadows danced across the wall surrounding him. Ban felt some of his fear ebb away.

Ban took a few more calming breaths before rising, the flame of the lighter flickering as he stood. It was going to run out soon, he needed to find a torch. No, he needed to find Ginji first.

The lighter flickered again in his hand. Scrap that, he would find a torch _first_, _then_ Ginji. After that, he would get the fucking wineglasses and get out of this shithole a much richer man. He grinned as he thought of the money he'd be getting after this.

He looked toward the room he and Ginji had been in, then down the corridor the monster had also come from. He remembered it being darker than its opposite, but in his shallow light he couldn't really tell the difference.

He racked his brain, trying to remember if there had been any extra paths that led further downstairs. Though he wanted to inspect the hole where Ginji had fallen, he decided it would be better to backtrack on familiar routes. With his dinky light it would have futile to even try to look. Besides, Ginji could take care of himself.

Usually.

Ban backtracked through the old doorway and back into familiar corridors. His flame flickered as he walked, blown back by the drafts of stale air wafting against it. The pagoda seemed different when not lit by a pure, white electricity. It looked older, dirtier. It was almost as if it had collected new dust, dulling the polish on the wooden floor. Floorboards creaked loudly under his feet as he stepped, and golden-cast walls gleamed with greasy monster's splattered blood.

Ban grimaced and left the room quickly.

As he stepped into another, identical hallway, he vaguely noticed that the wood was more blackened with age and rot than he remembered. He ran a hand along the paneling, but quickly jerked it back. "Gross," he muttered, noticing his hand was coated in a thin oily film that reeked of old gas and tree sap.

Wait, part of the wood was greasy and the timbers were rotted. Ban grinned and suddenly plunged a fist into the wall, easily splitting through the rotted wood, and ripped out a plank of wood. The loud cracking echoed down the passageway, then everything was again silent.

Ban held the lighter close to the torn timber in his hand. Well, this was probably the dumbest thing he'd done in a while. If he'd miscalculated, then he could accidentally set the whole place alight. It would probably smell like tree sap if he did.

He lowered the flame and suddenly the room became much brighter. Ban held his breath as fire danced and crackled over the piece of wood in his hand. The blaze stopped its spreading and simmered to a small glow. Ban's smirk countered his still fast-beating heart. It had worked; he had a torch. He looked around the corridor that he could now see clearly.

Well, that was kind of weird. The wood definitely hadn't looked this old before. Waving the homemade torch near the wall, he inspected it scrutinizingly, face inches from its surface. After a few seconds, Ban blew gently on the filmy wood. Dust kicked up into his face, and he coughed violently for a minute.

Wait, what the fuck? Dust didn't gather on grime like that.

And it wasn't this dusty before either, dammit.

Ban shook his head in denial, though even then he seemed uncertain. He walked on. Fuck this house, it was time to find his partner.

He searched through corridors and paper rooms, looking for a stairway they might have taken earlier that led farther downwards. He was having no luck. It was as if this wing of the pagoda had no floors below the wing he was in right now, and Ginji had just disappeared. But that couldn't be right, because they had the schematic in the Subaru and there should be about four more floors below where he was now, which was-

He didn't know.

Ban grew numb when he realized this. He didn't know where in the huge, old pagoda just where he was. Lost wasn't the right word for it, because he knew relatively well what path he'd taken earlier in the night. They'd gone east and down. He just... couldn't find his way around this place to save his life.

Fuck, this was bad.

* * *

Ginji was terrified.

He limped quickly down the corridor, breath ragged and painful in his chest. Pain rocketed through his ankle as he tried to run through the hallway in complete darkness. A scream echoed behind him, shaking the floor. Ginji tripped and cried out, catching himself and half-crawling across the floor.

He had to get away, he was going to die, oh god he was going to die, oh god oh god he couldn't kill it, he was injured, he had to get away.

Stumbling through the darkness, he caught his balance and kept running, nothing on his mind but escape. Behind him he heard something plow through a wall, shattering wood. He let out a horrified whimper as he felt it gaining on him.

The monster behind him shrieked, and wood collapsed just behind Ginji. He groped blindly at the wall, trying vainly to gain speed. Lungs aching and badly in need of a break, he felt a gush of wind at his back and heard his the rip of vest as the thing swung its spiked arm at him. It missed his body, but splattered blood from the wounds Ban had caused onto Ginji's clothes.

He dashed madly, ignoring the fire in his leg, heart pounding, grunting in pain, exhaustion, and fear with every step he took. It was gaining, but he was _not_ going to die.

Suddenly everything went silent, save his heavy, plodding footfalls. Ginji gripped the wall, trying desperately to catch his breath. He was confused. Why had it suddenly stopped chasing him?

He stood in the dark and deadly silence, bottom lip quivering in fear. Maybe it had left him, but that made no sense. It was chasing its injured prey, hunting him, and now it was toying with him as he struggled to grasp the situation.

Ginji wished he could see, wished he didn't have to control his electricity so that the horrible thing wouldn't find him as easily. But a floor or so below ground, all he saw was black. The only sound was his staggered breathing, reverberating off the empty walls as he gasped for blessed air. He felt very alone.

But he had to keep going. Ban-chan was trying to help him, he was sure, so he had to keep going, if he kept moving everything would be okay.

Suddenly a huge crack screamed through the corridor and he felt wood crumble and shatter beside him. With a strained cry Ginji was flung to the ground, suddenly buried under piles of wood as the monster burst through the wall he'd been leaning against.

He felt the splinters of the floor prickling into his cheek as he lay on his side, trapped under the heavy wood. The weight shifted over him, pressure intensifying; his body was being crushed. Then the pressure lessened and Ginji felt something slamming into the ground near him. He stayed still, so did everything else.

Hesitating for a split second, Ginji quickly heaved himself to his hands and knees, knocking aside the collapsed wood on top of him. He scurried away on all fours as fast as he could, desperately trying to get away before what was probably the monster came to its senses. His hands hit forcefully with the ground as he crawled, crashing against the floor with each vital step he took.

Suddenly he felt something sharp slash into his wounded ankle and pain jolted through his whole leg. He cried out as he felt hot liquid oozing into his shoe. Fuck, it had woken up, it was still after him, oh fuck.

He kept moving, clambering forward down the narrow corridor, searching for something, anything to help him get away.

And suddenly the floor wasn't there.

Ginji yelped and tumbled down a flight of stairs, landing crouched on his side. He felt the monster just behind him as it leapt off the top of the stairs and landed just in front of him. It sniffed the air. Ginji froze.

Swallowing nervously, he lay absolutely still. The stairs pressed into his back painfully. He held his breath as best he could, because to breathe was to die. He heard the thing sniffing around him, felt its rancid breath on his chest, sensed it prodding with its clawed feet. Deadly still, deadly silent. Sweat trickled down his face and into his eyes, mixing with salty tears of fear.

Ginji tried to calm his breathing to keep quiet. His lungs burned as he inhaled as slowly as possible, nearly suffocating himself... but he couldn't do it any longer. Out of his mouth came a small electric spark, lighting up the room for a split second. _Oh shit_, he thought. Ginji's eyes widened and he rolled over just as a spiked arm slammed into the ground where he'd been lying seconds ago.

He grabbed at his own ankle, smearing his hands with blood, and flung it into the monster's face. As the blinded thing roared again, he clapped his hands over his ears, then ducked under its legs and scrambled out behind it.

As it fumbled around for him in the dark, the blond crawled quietly forward, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his ankle as blood seeped out the slashed flesh.

He felt his hand hit a wall and gripped blindly at it, trying to regain his bearings in the darkness. The wall seemed to stretch both ways.

Ginji turned left and ran.

* * *

A thought occurred to Ban.

When they'd entered, there had been a second path into the west wing right next to the door. Perhaps he could find another path that way?

He walked in silence, torch raised high, for several minutes. The familiar hallways became lighter and lighter as he rose above ground, but Ban noticed they still seemed older than he remembered them to be.

Odd.

He moved through a doorway and up a pair of stairs. He wondered how Ginji was doing, then chided himself mentally for even considering that something was wrong. He'd have sensed it if anything had happened to his partner.

As he walked slowly up the creaky stairway, he remembered a trap door up ahead and fumbled for the latch, lowering the torch so to not set the wood on fire. Pushing up on the wood, Ban heard an audible click as muted blue light from above flooded into the stairwell.

He crawled out slowly, taking his time. The room was dimly lit from the moonlight filtered through translucent rice paper, casting the room in a faint gray-blue glow. Dust danced in rays of moonlight near the paper, thick and wild. Ban sneezed.

Looking around, he spotted the small traditional table in the center of the room that Ginji had tripped over on their way down. A large piece of reflecting glass in the corner, probably used as a mirror, caught his eye, and Ban arched an eyebrow. He was pretty sure it hadn't been there before.

Apprehensively wary, he started towards it. Something didn't settle right.

He caught sight of his reflection in the glass and suppressed a grimace. His hair was still damp and plastered to his face, and blood coated his bruised arms and hands. Ginji would think he was a mess.

"Ban-chan, you're a mess."

Ban froze.

His eyes widened as a silhouette came into view behind him, a shock of bright blond hair vibrant in the dim light. Ginji stood behind him in the shadows cast by the torch, smiling reassuringly at his stunned partner.

"It's okay, Ban-chan. I'm here now. I'm okay, so you don't have to worry," he said, his voice low and quiet.

Ginji reached out, his arm stretching into the light. Ban inhaled sharply. The arm looked dead; skin hung from the exposed muscle of Ginji's arm. His fingers had deteriorated into bone, blackened flesh seemingly burnt away at his palm.

He felt a decayed hand caress his bare arm and his breath caught in his throat. Ginji leaned forward, his face becoming clearer as he stepped into the light.

His warm brown eyes had been gouged out, and pieces of skin looked as if they would flake off from rot. His lower lip had been ripped off, and there were festering remains of bloody blisters on his cheeks. Ban saw the glisten of white teeth behind the shredded lip as blood streamed down his face and onto his neck of melted flesh.

"Don't worry, Ban-chan," Ginji murmured softly. Ban felt rancid breath on his throat.

He whirled around and saw nothing.

Nothing but the dimly lit room around him.

That wasn't Ginji, he thought, _that couldn't have been Ginji. Ginji wouldn't let himself get that fucked up_.

That had felt real.

"Nice try," Ban said aloud, waving his torch around at the pagoda walls. "But next time, don't be so graphic if you want me to believe ya." His voice was shaky; he couldn't help but worry about the real Ginji's safety. Ban turned back to the mirror and saw only his own reflection.

A crash like glass shattering to pieces shook the silence, and Ban left the room bandaging his hand.

He walked into a hallway that looked unfamiliar and wondered if he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere. He could have sworn the main entrance to the pagoda had been in this area.

He slid open the nearest paper-windowed door and looked around, torch high in front of him.

The room was fairly bare and old, and here and there flecks of blood were splashed across the wall, which seemed to almost glow with oil from the aged paneling. Against the back wall hung a shelf that had fallen from half its rusty nails, and a few yellowed books littered the floor. In the corner stood a corroding brass coat hanger. Molding imprints on the floor suggested long-gone furniture.

Ban's eyes narrowed. "Wait one goddamn second," he muttered to himself. This room looked familiar, but he was sure they hadn't seen such a decrepit room before and there definitely hadn't been any blood--

Ban bolted back into the hallway. There had been a door here, he was certain of it. His breath quickened as he saw stains on the floor from where he and Ginji had dripped water on their entrance.

He pounded on the solid wooden wall and felt it start to give under his fist. _Score, it must be the real entrance! _he thought. He grinned smugly and drew back his fist. "Snake Bite!"

The wooden splintered, cracked, and gave completely. Ban rammed his side through the wall, taking down the rest of the wooden barrier to escape.

He looked around.

"Dammit."

The room around him was completely dark.

* * *

His ankle was beginning to go numb from the pain. Ginji stumbled through another pitch-black hallway, trying to catch his breath. He'd bandaged his bleeding leg with a strip of fabric ripped from his shirt, and his vest was nowhere to be found. His neck was chilled with the familiar feel of dehydration, skin cold and clammy. He was sweaty, hot, and felt ill.

Ginji felt like crying. He probably was, but didn't notice. He was too busy trying to stay alive.

His electricity wasn't working, he wasn't safe. He needed to get back upstairs, he knew, back where Ban-chan was, because Ban-chan could protect him. They just had to find each other first. He needed to be upstairs. He felt dizzy.

Ginji was jerked from his nauseous trance when he heard a creak of wood some meters behind him. Eyes wide, he began to stumble hurriedly through the hall again.

There was another scrape over timber from closer behind. Pain flared back up his leg as he tried to move faster and faster.

Ginji looked ahead of him and saw a very faint light in the far distance. A staircase! That had to be it, it had to be stairs, why else would there be light in this forsaken, desolate place?

He hurried towards it, like a moth drawn to a flame. Realizing that the faint light was shining through a ricepaper door, Ginji wrenched it open, ran inside, and slammed the sliding door shut behind him.

He turned around and froze.

"Oh my..." Words were lost on Ginji as he stared at the scene before him.

He was in a small room.

Against the back wall was a man sitting on a narrow wooden bench. A dead man. Beside his head was a small candle, balanced on a little metal platform. Pallid orange shadows danced across he room, illuminating carnage.

Ginji stepped closer. He smelled rank death and gagged.

The man's bare chest was thin and pasty, and his arms were severed messily, dripping congealing blood from frayed flesh beside him onto the seat. A gaping hole in his chest contrasted harshly with his deathly white skin, and Ginji could see broken fragments of bone hanging just out of the wound. A few large veins appeared torn from their sockets. His heart had been ripped out.

Ginji's lip began to tremble.

Tight strings held the man upright, twisting and coiling around his neck and torso, cutting into pale tender skin and dribbling blood with their razor-sharp edges. Blood seeped slowly through white slacks, the same severing threads fixing his splayed legs into place.

Something glinted near him, and Ginji realized a huge web of threads stretched around the room. He felt a twinge of pain in his arm as a taut string bit into his skin. He was standing in an absolute death trap.

There was a small jingling and Ginji saw a tiny golden ball attached to one of the strings. Several long brown hairs were tangled in the bell's cover.

The corpse's head hung limply, light ash blond hair falling in front of his face. Ginji could make out a blood-soaked white gag binding his mouth. His pale eyes were wide in death.

Ginji choked.

Smeared across the wooden wall above the poor man were brilliant crimson English letters, the light just bright enough to illumine them.

THE GODS PAY HOMAGE TO OUR MIGHT

It was written in blood.

"Ka- Kagami-san...?"

* * *

-tbc

* * *

Author's notes: Whooo, I do hope you all like it XD I believe this chapter earns the R rating I gave it. I sincerely hope everyone is enjoying my fic so far, so leave me feedback and tell me what you think?

As always, many many thanks to Mar, who is absolutely invaluable to me

a/n '04: Edited for your bettered reading pleasure. _Man_, this chapter is cool.


	5. Chapter Four

**Restless Dreams: Chapter Four**

* * *

Ban plunged the torch into a knothole in floor's wood. After making sure it stood up on its own, he crawled from the corridor back into the room he'd discovered and peered around. The dim light only allowed so much, but from what Ban could see the room was fully wooden. The wood looked brand new, fresh, even unpolished.

"What the hell...?" Ban muttered to himself. Everything else here looked old and decrepit, so why would a room that hadn't even _existed_ earlier seem so new? Ban grit his teeth, more confused that he wanted to admit.

He stepped forward, lightly touching a wall. The wood felt cool and rough under his fingers.

Suddenly the light went out. Ban whirled around, hunting for an intruder, unable to see in the complete dark. He moved toward where he'd entered the room and searched for the cracked boards.

He couldn't find the hole. The wall was perfect. Why the fuck was there no hole? He'd punched his way through, so why was there no hole? It had been there not ten seconds ago, and now it was gone.

A whimper caught in Ban's throat as he felt frantically for rough, splintered wood. He stopped and took a deep breath to calm himself. What the hell was he doing, panicking like this?

With the flick of a lighter, Ban was surrounded by the familiar glow of fire. He looked at the wall and froze. His lip trembled.

The wooden walls were greasy. Slimy. Decayed. Blackened and gnarled with age. Splatters of blood garnished with golden film decorated the walls, sticky rivulets of sap sliding slowly down the crumbling timber. Ban heard the scurrying of thousands of termites, eating away at the rot.

And there was no hole in the wall.

* * *

Ginji stared blankly at the corpse in front of him. It was Kagami Kyouji, it had to be. No one else's eyes were that shade of purple, but he was too mutilated to tell anything otherwise. Ginji's lip trembled as he watched blood flow slowly from the missing heart's cavity. He tore his eyes away from the body and looked around. This couldn't be real; such a powerful man couldn't be dead.

His eyes unfocused as he tried to take everything in. Kagami was held up by Kazuki's strings, his hair was attached, it had to be... Ginji shook his head. That meant that either Kazuki was hurt as well, or he did this himself. Ginji wasn't sure which was worse.

He heard a thud behind him.

Ginji's breath quickened, heart racing faster in his chest. His eyes darted toward the flickering candle next to the corpse's head; if the monster got closer it would see him through the ricepaper. Attempting to move forward to snuff the candle, he hissed as a taut string suddenly bit into his bare calf.

He heard a roar in the distance and shuddered; it was getting closer. Swallowing hard, Ginji reached out, arm straining to touch the candle. Outside the room was another, louder thud, then two, then three. Ginji cried out, stretching his arm as the chaos of threads cut into his skin, trying not to look down at Kagami's body pressed just beneath him, still warm and soft, and focused instead on grabbing the candle just centimeters from his fingertips.

Ginji felt the thing move closer, heard its moaning draw nearer. His arm ached from the strain but he pushed forward, feeling strings pulling at his shoulders and across his cheek, slicing flesh like old cheese, and the flame was so close and felt so warm near his skin...

Ginji swiped at it, and his hand connected with the hard wax. The candle broke off its holder and fell, flickering before hitting the ground and dying out.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ginji stepped back from the deadly web of string wincing as pain flared up his ankle and tiny thread wounds clotted with blood.

He stood in the dark, gathering his thoughts and trying to calm down. Suddenly he heard a creak behind him and felt the bile of fear rise to his throat again. He held his breath, trying to keep as absolutely silent as possible. The thing was right next to the room's sliding door.

It continued stomping down the hallway, away from the door.

Ginji sighed inwardly; he didn't dare move until it was completely gone.

Suddenly there was a loud crack behind him. Broken bits of wood and debris bombarded Ginji as he struggled to move, hundreds of threads binding him in place. He shuddered as the monster screeched, high-pitched and deafening. Glimpsing back he felt it rear up, its giant body reeling backwards to strike. His eyes widened.

* * *

The hairs on the back of Ban's neck prickled. "Ginji," he whispered into the darkness. Something was wrong with his partner.

* * *

A white-hot pain seared through Ginji's back, blossoming through his body and over his skin. His scream was silenced with a spray of salty blood as he careened forward, a few threads broken by the monster's slash.

The web of threads below him broke his fall, catching Ginji and tangling him in their grasp. The corpse's body lurched forward with the string's vibration, showering Ginji with congealed blood from Kagami's severed arms.

He hung sideways, suspended in threads coiled tightly around his skin. He felt light-headed, like he was floating. It was almost enough to drown out the searing pain in his back as hot blood streamed down gashed skin. His entire body felt on fire, as if the thing's spikes were laced with blistering venom.

The monster roared.

Kagami's corpse rocked forward again with the impact and nearly collapsed on top of Ginji, the gaping hole where his heart should have been suspended just above the retriever's face, dripping blood and bits of bone onto his cheek.

* * *

"Ginji! GINJI!!" Ban pounded on the wall desperately, trying to tear down the wall, dent the wood, anything. He backed up a step and charged at the wall, slamming his side into the wall. Grease smeared onto his shoulder and splinters stabbed into his bare arms, but he stepped back and rammed the wall again. He had to get out of this fucking prison.

Ban felt his shoulder shove out of place and grimaced. He bit his lip and smashed into the wall again, wincing as pain blasted up his arm, completely dislocated. Ban yelled and sank to his knees, left side aching, unable to reach his partner, and closed his eyes. His body shuddered, stressed and in pain.

Ban gritted his teeth, eyes still closed, and grabbed at his shoulder, shoving it back into place. It hurt like hell.

He exhaled shakily and prepared to launch himself at the wall again, not ready to resign himself to listening to his partner's screams.

Suddenly there was light behind Ban's closed eyelids. He opened his eyes -- and stared. The walls of his wooden cage were gone. Ban swallowed hard, looking frantically around. He was sitting in a hallway, lit with steel industrial lamps attached to the walls. The wood of the pagoda walls was completely rotted, hanging limply from greasy, blood-splattered cement, and the floor had been replaced entirely with rusty metal grating that stretched over an endless black abyss. Only a tile of floor just under Ban's legs was still solid wood.

Ban rose to his feet and warily stepped toward a concrete wall. Suddenly there was a metallic crash behind him and he whirled around, battle-ready, searching for its source. He saw nothing. Nothing but the metal grating, cement, and blood. His platform of wood had disappeared.

This had to be Evil Eye, either that or he was going fucking crazy. But the presence of his partner, loud and anguished, snapped him back to twisted reality. He needed to find Ginji.

Ban walked tentatively down the hall, unwavering in finding his way out of the damn house.

The grating was springy under his feet and felt like it would give at any moment. He choked as the stench of blood overrode his senses, so strong it was gagging. He regained his senses and continued moving, unsettled by the endless abyss just a rusty grating tile below him. He tried not to look down.

The smell got worse and worse with every step, threatening to make Ban retch if it got too much stronger. He glanced around, trying to find the source of the stench. He saw nothing but bloody, greasy, endless concrete with no visible way out.

Ban held his breath and kept walking, determined to find his way out of the damn house.

He heard a piercing shriek behind him and whirled around, still-damp hair flinging into his face, fully alert. All he could see was an endless stretch of corridor in the dim lighting. It was almost as bad as being trapped in the wooden room, with nowhere to go and no way to get there.

Ban shuddered and turned, resolute in finding his way out of the damn house.

Suddenly he stepped on something squishy. Chancing a glance down, Ban swallowed hard. He was sure that bloody piece of severed meat with its rancid smell wafting into the air hadn't been there a minute ago.

Hoping that he wasn't leaving bloodstained footprints behind him, he continued on, desperately seeking a way out of this damn house.

As Ban's stepped again something squelched under his other foot, and he could feel its mass sifting into the grates below, educing a soft oozing sound. He grit his teeth and kept moving, not even bothering to look down.

He chanced another step and grimaced when his foot treaded over more soft flesh. Keeping his eyes glued straight forward, he broke into a run, frantic to get out of the disgusting corridor. With every step the grille floor seemed to blossom into meaty gore, and Ban didn't dare look behind him as he ran.

* * *

Ginji screamed, loud and piercing in the chaos, fueled by fury. He'd had enough; his partner was missing, he'd been hunted and wounded like an animal, and this damned thing wouldn't leave him _alone_!!

Raw electricity exploded from his body, illuminating the darkness violently as it sizzled through the air. The strings coiled tightly around him burst into flame, and fire danced down the threads, igniting the thin fibers as the air stank of smoke, voltage, and blood.

The monster shrieked as the flames spread to its flesh, crackling as they charred the rancid skin. It tried to back away from the approaching fire and tripped over the alight strings, careening backwards onto the floor and screaming as it was devoured by hot flames.

Ginji stood, having brushed aside the burnt threads that bound him. His hair, caked with blood, hung limp over weary eyes and static crackled around his body. His back had halfway healed, the lacerated skin knitted back together weakly, breathing was ragged and harsh. He was obviously exhausted, but he grit his teeth and stepped toward the blazing, repulsive monster writhing pathetically on the floor.

Best to put it out of its misery.

* * *

There was a door. And not a pagoda door, a Western-style steel door. Ban wasn't sure how it got there, but fuck if he was going to question it. He'd been running through this rank, bloodsmeared hallway of HELL for way too damn long.

Of course, his eyes might have just been decieving him again, because it wasn't like any of this was real anyway, and he'd rather move forward in the dream than run himself out of breath in the overlong corridor that stretched for hours behind him.

Eyes sliding shut in reassured, somber resignation, Ban calmly pushed the metal door ajar.

Pure, undiluted white light suddenly seared into his corneas through the opening, and Ban threw an arm over his face, blocking the assault of blinding light. Finally his eyes readjusted to the sudden change and he stepped cautiously through the doorway into a pristine, sterile white room. It was large, octagonal, cold, and spotless, nothing at all like the pagoda he'd been in---pagoda.

Pagoda.

Had he been in a pagoda? It seemed like he'd been running underground for forever. No, he was a retrieval agent in Tokyo, a damn good one at that... but that didn't seem right. After all, wasn't all this a dream? He was going insane.

A small ringing sound suddenly reverberated off the walls, shattering the maddening silence. Ban glanced toward the center of the room and noticed a small puddle of blood he could have sworn hadn't been there before, but this blood was different from the rest, different from everything else he'd seen. It wasn't congealing, greasy, or old, this blood looked pure and cold like springwater as if it had been freshly let, almost drinkable in its sterility.

And in the center of it was a small double-belled red alarm clock, quietly chiming innocently.

Abandoning the safety of the door, Ban stepped toward it slowly and warily, eyes narrowed suspiciously at the clock as it continued to ring. It just didn't seem right, and, dream or not, Ban was in no hurry to die.

As he approached it the ringing grew louder and louder, exploding into a shrieking trill as Ban stepped closer. He felt his stomach begin to turn in apprehension and took a silent, deep breath, crouching down beside the alarm as it screamed into the air. His fingertips neared its screaming bells as he reached slowly out to touch it.

And as suddenly as it had started, it stopped, leaving only the chilling afterglow of sound. Ban blinked.

And then, behind him, he heard a low, dangerous canine growl, and slowly turned around.

* * *

-tbc

* * *

Author's notes: Oh my sweet jesus christ, this took forever. Well, after falling out of GB fandom, having extensive surgery and complications thereof on my knee, my writing getting waaaay better, and general procrastinating, Chapter Four is finally done. You can thank the renewed Silent Hill obsession for that one. Hope you enjoyed this chapter in all its short (read: lazy) brevity. Um. Yay :D


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